CHAPTER VII. THE FIRST FIGHTERS

And in the morning they saw Finn and all his people coming to the rath
that is above the harbour. "My father Finn," said Oisin than, "let us
fight now with the whole of the foreigners altogether." "That is not my
advice," said Finn, "for the number of their armies is too great for us,
and we could not stand against them. But we will send out every day,"
he said, "some son of a king or of a leader against some king of the
kings of the world that is equal in blood to ourselves. And let none of
you redden your arms," he said, "but against a king or a chief man at
first, for when a king is fallen, his people will be more inclined to
give way. And who will give out a challenge of battle from me now?" he
said. "I will do that," said the son of Cuban, leader of the Fianna of
Munster. "Do not go, my son," said Finn, "for it is not showed to me
that you will have good luck in the battle, and I never sent out any man
to fight without I knew he would come back safe to me." "Do not say
that," said Cuban's son, "for I would not for the treasure of the whole
world go back from a fight on account of a bad foretelling. And as it is
my own country they have done their robbery in first," he said, "I will
defend it for you." "It is sorrowful I am for that," said Finn, "for
whichever of the kings of the world will meet you to-day, yourself and
himself will fall together."

Then Glas, son of Dremen, gave out a challenge of fight from Cuban's
son, and the King of Greece answered it. And the two fought hand to
hand, and the King of Greece made a great cast of his thick spear at
Cuban's son, that went through his body and broke his back in two. But
he did not take that blow as a gift, but he paid for it with a strong
cast of his own golden spear that went through the ringed armour of the
King of Greece. And those two fell together, sole to sole, and lip to
lip. "There is grief on me, Cuban's son to have fallen," said Finn, "for
no one ever went from his house unsatisfied; and a man that I would not
keep, or the High King of Ireland would not keep for a week, he would
keep him in his house through the length of a year. And let Follamain,
his son, be called to me now," he said, "and I will give him his
father's name and place."

They stopped there then till the next morning. "Who will go and fight
to-day?" said Finn then. "I will do that," said Goll Garb, son of the
King of Alban and of the daughter of Goll, son of Morna.

So he put on his battle dress, and there came against him the three
kings from the rising of the sun in the east, and their three battalions
with them. And Goll Garb rushed among their men, and wounded and maimed
and destroyed them, and blinded their eyes for ever, so that their wits
went from them, and they called to him to stop his deadly sword for a
while. So he did that; and it is what they agreed to take their three
kings and to give them over to Goll Garb that he might stop doing
destruction with his sword.

"Who will go out and fight to-day?" said Finn, on the morning of the
morrow. "I will go," said Oisin, "and the chief men of the sons of
Baiscne with me; for we get the best share of all the pleasant things of
Ireland, and we should be first to defend her." "I will answer that
challenge," said the King of France, "for it is against Finn I am come
to Ireland, on account of my wife that he brought away from me; and
these men will fall by me now," he said, "and Finn himself at the last;
for when the branches of a tree are cut off, it is not hard to cut down
the tree itself."

So the King of France and Oisin met one another at the eastern end of
the strand, and they struck their banners of soft silk into the green
hill, and bared their swords and made a quick attack on one another. And
at one time the king struck such a great blow that he knocked a groan
out of Oisin. But for all that he was worsted in the end, and great fear
came on him, like the fear of a hundred horses at the sound of thunder,
and he ran from Oisin, and he rose like a swallow, that his feet never
touched the earth at all; and he never stopped till he came to Gleann
na-n Gealt, the Valley of Wild Men. And ever since that time, people
that have lost their wits make for that valley; and every mad person in
Ireland, if he had his way, would go there within twenty-four hours.

And there rose great cries of lamentation from the armies of the World
when they saw him going from them, and the Fianna of Ireland raised
great shouts of joy.

And when the night was coming on, it is what Finn said: "It is sad and
gloomy the King of the World is to-night; and it is likely he will make
an attack on us. And which of you will keep watch over the harbour
through the night?" he said. "I will," said Oisin, "with the same number
that was fighting along with me to-day; for it is not too much for you
to fight for the Fianna of Ireland through a day and a night," he said.

So they went down to the harbour, and it was just at that time the King
of the World was saying, "It seems to me, men of the World, that our
luck of battle was not good to-day. And let a share of you rise up now,"
he said, "and make an attack on the Fianna of Ireland." Then there rose
up the nine sons of Garb, King of the Sea of Icht, that were smiths, and
sixteen hundred of their people along with them, and they all went on
shore but Dolar Durba that was the eldest of them. And the sons of
Baiscne were ready for them, and they fought a great battle till the
early light of the morrow. And not one of them was left alive on either
side that could hold a weapon but only Oisin and one of the sons of
Garb. And they made rushes at one another, and threw their swords out of
their hands, and closed their arms about one another, and wrestled
together, so that it was worth coming from the east to the west of the
world to see the fight of those two. Then the foreigner gave a sudden
great fall to Oisin, to bring him into the sea, for he was a great
swimmer, and he thought to get the better of him there. And Oisin
thought it would not be worthy of him to refuse any man his place of
fighting. So they went into the water together, and they were trying to
drown one another till they came to the sand and the gravel of the clear
sea. And it was a torment to the heart of the Fianna, Oisin to be in
that strait. "Rise up, Fergus of the Sweet Lips," said Finn then, "and
go praise my son and encourage him." So Fergus went down to the edge of
the sea, and he said: "It is a good fight you are making, Oisin, and
there are many to see it, for the armies of the whole world are looking
at you, and the Fianna of Ireland. And show now," he said, "your ways
and your greatness, for you never went into any place but some woman of
high beauty or some king's daughter set her love on you." Then Oisin's
courage increased, and anger came on him and he linked his hands behind
the back of the foreigner and put him down on the sand under the sea
with his face upwards, and did not let him rise till the life was gone
from him. And he brought the body to shore then, and struck off his head
and brought it to the Fianna.

But there was great grief and anger on Dolar Durba, the eldest of the
sons of Garb, that had stopped in the ship, and he made a great oath
that he would have satisfaction for his brothers. And he went to the
High King, and he said: "I will go alone to the strand, and I will kill
a hundred men every day till I have made an end of the whole of the
armies of Ireland; and if any one of your own men comes to interfere
with me," he said, "I will kill him along with them."

The next morning Finn asked who would lead the battle that day. "I
will," said Dubhan, son of Donn. "Do not," said Finn, "but let some
other one go."

But Dubhan went to the strand, and a hundred men along with him; and
there was no one there before him but Dolar Durba, and he said he was
there to fight with the whole of them. And Dubhan's men gave a great
shout of laughter when they heard that; but Dolar Durba rushed on them,
and he made an end of the whole hundred, without a man of them being
able to put a scratch on him. And then he took a hurling stick and a
ball, and he threw up the ball and kept it in the air with the hurl from
the west to the east of the strand without letting it touch the ground
at all. And then he put the ball on his right foot and kicked it high
into the air, and when it was coming down he gave it a kick of his left
foot and kept it in the air like that, and he rushing like a blast of
March wind from one end of the strand to the other. And when he had done
that he walked up and down on the strand making great boasts, and
challenging the men of Ireland to do the like of those feats. And every
day he killed a hundred of the men that were sent against him.